


Shelter and Food

by schrijverr



Category: Misfits (TV 2009)
Genre: Gen, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, i feel like no one is talking enough about the fact that Nathan is homeless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 23:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18883687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr
Summary: Nathan is pretty nochalant about being homeless, but the not so pretty side of it rears its head when he passes out from the hunger when they're working.





	Shelter and Food

**Author's Note:**

> I'm posting all my stuff from my tumblr, which is also @schrijverr

In the back of his head Nathan had always known that being homeless isn’t fun, but to actually be it was a real shock. What also had been a shock was losing all his friends in a day. No one wanted him in his home and he soon realized that no one actually liked him. It wasn’t fun, his mom didn’t want him, his friends didn’t want him and society didn’t want him either. He was alone with two bags as his only possessions.  
He’s sleeping in the community center and he’s trying to hide it from his fellow ASBOs. Everyday he walks the same block only to return right to the center. He hopes no one knows, because that’s kind of embarrassing, but he suspects that that mind reading girl, Kelly he thought her name was, knows.  
His mum had given him some money, but it wasn’t enough to live from. He had bought some toothpaste and ate for four days before the money ran out. He has been molesting the vending machines for food and something to drink ever since, but it’s not much and not nutritious and he’s just hungry. At least water is free, he thinks one time, quite bitterly.  
He still acts like a prick and pretends that nothing is wrong when the others find out that he has the keys and lives in the center and he is glad when they gloss over it and don’t really mention it.  
It has been a few day of picking up garbage and hunger is gnawing on Nathans stomach. He’s feeling faint and he’s kind of out of it. He sees Simon with a sandwich cut into four pieces and smirks. He saunters up to him and says: “Hiya, Barry.”  
Then he quickly snatches one of the pieces and pops it into his mouth still grinning like a madman. Simon lets out a little hey and Kelly slaps him hard, but Nathan doesn’t really care. He can hardly give the piece back and for now the hunger has subsided a bit.  
He learns that chewing gum is a neat trick for keeping the hunger at bay, so he makes a habit out of it. The smacks and chews loudly which irritates his, now, friends, but he ignores that. He enjoys the sound of eating even if it’s fake. He also steals every edible thing he can find and always joins in when someone is offering a drink or a bit of food. It isn’t perfect, but it works.  
At least until he passes out. The others had been busy and the vending machine hadn’t been restocked in a few days. He had eaten bits and pieces, but it wasn’t much. His stomach was mostly filled with water and that wasn’t enough.  
The day had started as normal as any. He had hidden his bed, drank some water and waited for the others to arrive. They had been send out to pick up garbage in a dump somewhere on the outskirts of town. The sun was beating down on them and it was peacefully quiet. Nathan found it too quiet, so he had decided to interrupt the silence. He was contemplating how to do it when the world began the spin. Thinking it might have something to do with a creep with powers coming after them he asked: “Is it me or is the world spinning?”  
The others looked at him confused, totally prepared to give him a slap when he suddenly went down like a puppet who’s strings had been cut. Alisha yelped a bit and they all rushed to his side. Kelly gave him a slap while saying it wasn’t funny, but Nathan didn’t react. They maneuvered him into a more comfortable position, flat on his back. Alisha asked: “What do we do now?”  
“I read somewhere that if someone isn’t regaining consciousness after a minute we should call 999.” Simon said.  
They waited for the quip that of course the freaky kid had read something like that, but it stayed quiet. His silence was concerning. “What could’ve happened to him? Does anyone know he has some sort of medical condition?” Kelly asked.  
All shrugged, but Simon had some knowledge: “He might have been hot or thirsty or hungry or something.”  
“He eats and drinks, right? And it isn’t that hot.” Curtis said.  
“I don’t know. He always says that those candy bars are his dinner, but he can’t be serious, can he?” Alisha asked.  
“I don’t know. He might be dead serious.” Kelly said.  
They all cringed a bit, they hadn’t noticed their friend literally starving, because he was homeless. It was just a fact about him and he was always so nonchalant about it as if it wasn’t an issue, even though it most definitely was. It had almost been a minute when Nathan slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t have a normal sarcastic or stupid comment ready, so he just laid there for a second before saying: “Well, this is awkward.”  
“How are you feeling.” Kelly asked.  
“I’m so hungry, does anyone have a bit of food on them?” He asked.  
All shook there head and he pulled a sad face. “That sucks, anyone a bit gum?”  
He was handed a piece of gum and popped it in his mouth. As he sat up he said: “Not as good as real food, but it gives you the feeling, you know.”  
He yawned, before realizing what he had said. Kelly heard him mentally say Ah, fuck, what a sad thing to say. They don’t need to hear that, it already sad enough that I’m fucking homeless, now starving. How stupid and shitty and, God, I’m hungry… Fuck Kelly can hear me, fuck, fuck, fucking shit.  
Then Kelly got out and said: “Can you walk. I’m buying you an entire pizza, yeah.”  
He grinned happily and tried to stand. He almost fainted again and Curtis decided that it was getting sad and just gave him a piggyback ride. It was quite concerning that Nathan didn’t protest against this treatment at all.  
They got to the pizza place and ordered. Some pizzas were shared, but Nathan ate an entire pizza completely on his own. He was quiet and didn’t answer when someone asked him about the fainting spell. They understood, he was embarrassed an wanted to forget, but he was grateful for the food. He had thanked Kelly three times, something he normally never even did once.  
After that they never brought it up. They brought extra lunched which they shared with Nathan, invited him for dinners and insisted op paying and they didn’t complain when he asked them to borrow a bit of money when the vending machine wouldn’t turn over free food. He never said anything about it, but he would shoot them little grateful smiles from time to time and that was enough. He was a little prick, but he was their little prick and they would never let something like that happen again.


End file.
